Harm of junk food. Useful and harmful products, we understand what you can eat and what you should not Why is it so important to eat right? Products that bring only benefits

Why do acne occur from eating? And how can you get rid of them with food? You can find the answer to these and many other questions in this article.
Body rebellion
Our digestive system is amazing. She can tolerate mountains of chips, crackers and liters of sweet soda. True, there are limits to everything. One day, unable to bear all the unpleasant surprises for her, she decides to rebel. Her anger is evident, or rather, on her face. And it is expressed in the form of a rash, blackheads, acne and other bad things. What exactly causes pimples to appear? Let's talk about the most unhealthy foods and their impact on our body.

Sugar, chocolate, candy, cakes, cookies, chips and ice cream cause acne. And this also includes juices with a high sugar content. It is unlikely that it will be possible to completely abandon all these temptations, and it is not worth it. It is better to look for compromises, replacing, say, unhealthy drinks with water and teas, and sugar with dried fruits and honey.

2. Fats

It seems that there is no such body that would not suffer from fried and fatty. Replace animal fats with cold-pressed vegetable oils.

Also paramount is vitamin A, which is found in dark orange and dark green vegetables. It could be carrots, sweet potatoes, or spinach. If you regularly eat these vegetables, the result will not keep you waiting - in just a few days your skin will be young and blooming.

3. Dairy products

It is not necessary to infringe on yourself in the use of low-fat kefir, cottage cheese or milk, but the amount of cheese or ice cream must be reduced. Dairy products, due to the progesterone and steroids they contain, increase the activity of the sebaceous glands. If it is difficult to live without a large amount of dairy, lean on live yogurts containing acidophilus bacteria, which will improve metabolism.

4. Chips and soda

Due to the peculiarities of cooking, a lot of carcinogens (that is, substances that provoke cancer) are formed in the chips. Plus, they contain hydrogenated fats, which increase blood cholesterol levels, which in turn increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

As for soda, it has way too much sugar. In the meantime, studies show that many people do not perceive the liquid as a source of any nutrients, that is, they think that you can drink as much as you like. And this is not so - excessive consumption of sweet soda can disrupt metabolism. In addition, the abundance of dyes can cause severe allergic reactions, and carbon dioxide (these are bubbles) increases the acidity of the stomach, that is, causes gastritis.

5. Fast food

The most harmful "fast food" is all kinds of belyashi, pasties, french fries, shawarma, and in general everything that is fried. Because it's all fried in the same oil, it changes, God forbid, once a day. The result - all the same carcinogens.

6. Margarine, cakes and cereals

Margarine is a solid trans fat - the most harmful type of fat. Accordingly, all products with its content are harmful. As a rule, these are cakes, cakes with cream, puff pastry products. In general, an excessive love for these foods rich in sugar and fat almost guarantees metabolic disorders and excess weight.

Cereals - in particular, white bread - made the list due to the fact that they often cause intolerance. The disease is called celiac disease and occurs quite often - in 0.5-1% of the population. Symptoms range from bowel problems to diabetes and infertility.

7. Nuts

Fried, crispy, raw, delicious nuts. Almonds and pistachios, peanuts and walnuts - they all cause acne. However, we tirelessly repeat - acne appears when overeating! And there is a little bit of nuts - it's good.

8. Sausage, smoked meats and mayonnaise

Sausage sausage, of course, is different, but the one that we most often buy contains more flavors and dyes than meat.

The main ingredients of cheap sausage products are synthetic, and their safety for health has not been proven.

Smoked meat and fish, although they do not raise doubts about their natural origin, were ranked for their high content of carcinogens. Those are formed during processing in the form of a substance benzopyrene.
Mayonnaise is full of trans fats, which are carcinogenic and cause an increase in cholesterol levels.

9. Coffee

A million articles have been written on the benefits of coffee and on the topic of its harm. We will only say that it can be included in the list of products that cause acne. Coffee increases the production of the hormone cortisol, which is responsible for stress. And he is one of the main causes of pimples in middle age. Portions of sweet coffee on an empty stomach are especially dangerous - after that, not just a small red bump, but a raspberry inflamed mountain can pop out! What is your maximum - is unknown. It could be three cups a day, or maybe a whole jar.

10. Vegetables and fruits, foods with preservatives

Do not be surprised: even the most healthy and natural products can become harmful if spoiled. In this case, vegetables and fruits deteriorate under the influence of industrial emissions and fertilizers. Eating cucumbers grown near a highway or some factory will give you a fair amount of benzopyrene and other cancer-causing substances.

As for preservatives, some of them may contain monosodium glutamate. Poisoning with this substance can be manifested by headaches, vasospasm, and even metabolic disorders. That is why manufacturers are so proud of the inscription "Without preservatives", which they put in the most prominent place on the label.

10 healthy foods that we DO NOT eat, but in vain ...

There are a number of products that we very rarely or never buy. Let us recall at least those vegetables and fruits that our mothers and fathers forced to eat, but we stubbornly refused. It's a pity! They help to improve health without a doctor's prescription. The benefits of such products have been proven by many years of use, and some - literally for centuries.

These foods are extremely rich in antioxidants, polyphenols, vitamins and minerals. They can reduce your risk of developing chronic diseases and prolong your life. They are also more beneficial in terms of being overweight. Read about 10 of these foods and the benefits they can bring.

1. Cauliflower and Broccoli

Inclusion in the diet of cauliflower and broccoli reduces the risk of developing severe forms of prostate cancer. Eating these vegetables weekly reduces the risk of tumors by 50 percent!
It turned out that broccoli and cauliflower, differing in appearance and taste, contain approximately the same complex of vitamins, which not only successfully participate in the metabolic process, but also have an antitumor effect. Cabbage, both of them, has a high protein content, which lacks only a few amino acids to become equivalent to animal proteins. In terms of carbohydrate content, they are equivalent to other vegetables.

Glucose and fructose are easily absorbed, carbohydrates carry energy into the body. Pectin substances, getting into the gastrointestinal tract, form gels that envelop the walls of the stomach and intestines, which prevent the absorption of toxins into the lymph and blood, and reduce inflammation of the mucous membrane. Trace elements are represented by zinc, manganese, and iodine necessary for the body. According to experts, a diet high in cabbage can serve as a prevention of prostate cancer, one of the most common cancers in men.

2. Tomatoes

3. Kiwi

This exotic fruit has become a common guest on our shelves in recent years. One kiwi a day covers the daily requirement of vitamin C, which, as you know, strengthens the immune system, blood vessels, increases the body's resistance to all kinds of infections, and helps the body fight stress. In addition, kiwi contains a lot of magnesium, potassium mineral salts and fiber, which helps to eliminate cholesterol from the body and normalizes digestion.

4. Blueberries

These berries are rich in phytonutrients that neutralize free radicals (compounds that cause aging and cell damage). Antioxidants found in blueberries may also protect against cancer and reduce the risk of age-related diseases such as Alzheimer's disease or dementia.

5. Raisins

Delicious and nutritious product, has many useful properties. Raisins have a strengthening effect on the nervous system, help suppress anger, and strengthen the heart. Raisins contain substances that stop the growth of bacteria that cause tooth decay and gum disease.

6. Black beans

A glass of black beans has 15 grams of protein and, unlike meat, none of the saturated fats that clog arteries. Plus heart benefits - fiber, antioxidants and iron.

7. Cranberry

This berry is indispensable for colds - it has an antipyretic effect, kills viruses in acute respiratory infections. The use of these medicinal berries lowers blood pressure in hypertensive patients, strengthens the gums, enhances the secretory activity of the pancreas.

8. Salmon

Salmon contains omega-3 fatty acids, which our body cannot produce on its own. They reduce inflammation, improve blood circulation, increase “good” cholesterol over “bad” cholesterol, and may reduce the risk of cancer. Salmon is rich in selenium, which prevents cell damage, and several B vitamins.

9. Common white cabbage

Why? Because in addition to carbohydrates, it contains fiber that is beneficial for the intestines. It removes cholesterol from the body and prevents the development of atherosclerosis. There are also a lot of mineral salts in cabbage, among which potassium salts are especially valuable, which helps the heart work and strengthens the muscles of the body. Heads contain phosphorus, calcium, manganese, magnesium, iron, without which the body cannot do, since they are necessary for the normal composition of the blood. The main healer - vitamin C - is preserved both in fresh cabbage and sauerkraut. And all this, taken together, puts a reliable barrier to cancer and heart disease. Scientists found that an additional serving of a salad from any type of cabbage reduced the risk of stroke by 32 percent, and from leafy vegetables - spinach, dill, parsley, celery and others - by 21 percent. Just do not forget that 40-60 percent of the vitamins contained in greens are lost on the first day of storage. So it’s better not to buy sluggish greens!

10. Bow

It, like garlic, contains substances that kill pathogens. Onions also contain carotene, vitamins, including C, mineral salts and sugars. It is famous for its essential oils, which have a bactericidal effect. He literally treats many diseases, lowers blood sugar levels. Behind these leading vegetables in the list of healing are carrots, beets, potatoes.

Do not forget that much depends on the correct preparation of vegetables in which nitrates accumulate. Therefore, it is better to buy medium-sized potatoes. In carrots, nitrates accumulate in the stem, especially if the root crop is large. The central part is better to separate from the rest. But the beets must be thoroughly cleaned, fresh or boiled, removing the skin in a thick layer. Do not spare the top of the head, cutting it to one-fifth the size of the root crop. Do not pre-soak vegetables in water. Peel root vegetables just before cooking. It is believed that it is better to cook in the peel, so vitamins are better preserved. Boil vegetables whole, not in pieces. Otherwise, the loss of vitamins will increase by 15-20 percent, and for vitamin C - by 30. Salt the water as late as possible, as salt draws vitamins from vegetables.

Eating pizza, mac and cheese, chips or ice cream, you should worry not only about extra centimeters at the waist. Eating junk food poses a far greater health risk than weight gain.

Serious negative changes in metabolism occur after 5 days of systematic consumption of foods saturated with harmful fats. Even in healthy people, muscles lose the ability to oxidize glucose, which provokes the development of insulin resistance.

During normal carbohydrate metabolism, muscle tissue either processes glucose for energy or stores it for later use. Since muscle accounts for about 30% of body weight, the body loses a key component involved in metabolism, which contributes to the development of diabetes and other diseases. Moreover, negative changes in the body can occur even after a single use of junk food (fast food, confectionery).

Foods high in unhealthy fats and sugars can cause hyperglycemia. This is not only a risk of diabetes, but also a serious threat to the heart:

• heart muscle tissue becomes inflamed;
• arteries constrict;
• free radicals are generated;
• pressure rises;
• increases the risk of heart attack and stroke.

Sharp fluctuations in insulin levels make you feel hungry immediately after eating, even if the meal was hearty and the portions are voluminous.

An interesting experiment was conducted by specialists from one of the clinics in Massachusetts (USA). To see what happens in the stomach and intestines after eating instant noodles, the experiment participant swallowed a miniature pill camera. It turned out that the product remains intact even two hours after it was eaten. The only change is the increase in size, swelling of the noodles. You can imagine what kind of load the digestive system is subjected to, trying to process such a “heavy” product. Not to mention the toxic effects on the body of the ingredients used in its manufacture (for example, hydroquinone).

The systematic inclusion of fast food in the diet leads to the development of metabolic syndrome, provokes a deficiency of nutrients, and the concentration of sodium and synthetic fats in the body increases.

Abuse of refined carbohydrates (breakfast cereals, buns, cakes, cookies) also affects the production of insulin and leptin. Such food contributes to the development of insulin resistance, provokes obesity, chronic diseases.

What to do if you really want

Why do we crave junk food? Under normal conditions, the body independently regulates the amount of food needed for energy production. But processed foods are so tasty, stimulate such a strong reward response in the brain, that the regulator is unable to perform its functions, a person cannot stop and overeat.

To make food more attractive, not only bright packaging is used. The impact is on all the senses involved in the process of eating food - both smell and taste buds.

On the one hand, fatty and sweet foods contribute to the removal of cortisol from the body (it’s not for nothing that you crave something sweet when you’re stressed). But at the same time, appetite increases, sugar levels rise, and visceral fat accumulates. The more you consume such food, the more you will want it.

Sugar can be more addictive than cocaine. The receptors responsible for recognizing sweet tastes are not adapted to the consumption of such an amount of sugar that a modern person puts into his mouth, because even 50-60 years ago the diet was not so saturated with sweets. Excessive activation of these receptors stimulates the transmission of signals to the centers of the brain responsible for reward. The mechanism of self-control is violated, which leads to the acquisition of persistent dependence.

Not only sweets are dangerous, but also any processed foods containing preservatives, fructose, dyes and other chemicals. The situation can be reversed only by replacing such products with self-cooked food from natural ingredients. This will eliminate the body's dependence on sugar and allow you to burn fat faster, using it as fuel.

It is important not only to give up unhealthy fats, but also to compensate for them with healthy ones (saturated and monounsaturated). This group of substances is contained in such products:

• olives and oil from them;
• raw nuts (macadamia, walnuts, almonds);
• coconuts and coconut oil;
• egg yolks;
• avocado;
• butter;
• organic pork and beef.

To give up junk food was easier for the body, you need to introduce healthy foods into the diet gradually, sudden changes are fraught with nervous breakdowns and a return to junk food.

To stop eating junk every day, it is important to plan the menu in advance, buy enough healthy products to prepare the selected dishes (and at the same time avoid buying unwanted ones, then there will be no temptation to eat them). You need to take care not only about home food, but also not allow yourself to deviate from the food rules being introduced at work: either take lunch with you or find a food outlet where they can offer dishes from natural ingredients.

And finally, you need to learn how to manage emotions so that food consumption is not impulsive - under the influence of a good or bad mood.

Of course, food brings (and should bring) pleasure, but there is no need to build it into a cult. Still, the main function of food is to provide the body with energy, and this is possible only if you choose healthy foods every day.

Are you watching your diet?

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No, but I want to start eating right. 41%, 61 voice

A healthy diet does not consist of strict restrictions and a strict diet; a person begins to eat right when he consciously seeks to exclude foods that are detrimental to health from the diet.

However, foods that are recognized by nutritionists as useful are just as likely to be harmful in cases where the allowable amount is not respected.

Useful products are the basis of longevity, lack of fat, stable functioning of all systems in the body.

How are the health benefits and harms of food determined?

Useful and harmful qualities of products are determined by nutritionists by how they affect the body after consumption.

The benefit lies in vitamins, minerals and other elements, without which the human body cannot exist normally.

Products with useful qualities include environmentally friendly, natural, in the production of which chemical hazardous additives and artificial substances are not used.

The main thing in useful products is their composition, the following components will be harmful to health:

• dyes;
• preservatives;
• flavor enhancers;
• flavors;

An equally important role in assessing the usefulness of food is played by the method of preparation. When using oil of vegetable or animal origin to process products, harmful substances are released, such as:

• polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons;
• higher aldehydes;
• ultrafine particles;
• carcinogens, etc.

Nutritionists include foods prepared:

1. For a couple.
2. In the oven.
3. Boiled.

Be sure to check out:

How different diets can have positive and negative effects on the human body

The human body is a complex system with constantly changing processes in order for the system to function normally, it should be supplied with all the necessary substances, trace elements and vitamins, all this is found in products.

Food is not just a resource needed to sustain a person.

Fast food, fast food, alcohol, everything that can be quickly prepared and not thought about the contents have a negative effect on the organs.

The danger for humans is that for the manufacture of such products, for example, crackers or chips, harmful chemical elements are used, for example, monosodium glutamate, chemical preservatives, etc. In this case, not only the chemical component of the product, but also the method of preparation will harm the body. .

It is important to know that when cooking most fast food, frying oil is used, which, during heat treatment, begins to release carcinogens - acrylamides. When ingested, these substances begin the process of tumor formation, increase sugar levels, which leads to diabetes. There is a risk of developing the following diseases when eating negative food:

• chronic fatigue;
• allergy;
• bouts of aggression;
• apathy;
• problems with the intestinal tract;
• ulcers;
• asthma attacks;
• allergies, etc.

Coffee is also referred to - the danger is granulated coffee, the main mistake is that people use it on an empty stomach in the morning.

Nutritionists say that after sleep, coffee causes stress in the body, and the digestive system cannot start productive work during the day. The calorie content of this drink is 100 kcal per 100 g, if you use it in large quantities, then obesity will not take long.

Interestingly, a large amount of fruit causes no less damage to the body than street food. This is due to the fact that in the process of evolution, our ancestors ate fruits only in the warm periods of the year, in winter their body was rebuilt, we inherited this feature.

Fructose, when it enters the liver, begins to form fat. Another disadvantage is the fact that chemical elements are used in the production of fruits, for example, pesticides or herbicides, nitrates. When ingested, it can contribute to:

• diseases of the upper respiratory tract;
• allergies, etc.

What is healthy food

Healthy food is products that provide the human body with all the necessary nutrients, improve well-being and prevent the occurrence of various kinds of diseases.

Healthy foods include products of plant origin:

• whole grain;
• vegetables, produce grown on your own land is best, as they are guaranteed to be free of chemicals;
• fresh fruits and greens;
• lean meats.

Useful products will provide reliable protection for the body, help improve the functioning of internal systems and organs, and contribute to the renewal of skin cells.

An equally important aspect of proper nutrition is the required amount of water, this will maintain the water balance in the body and protect against dehydration. Without fluid, the human body will not be able to function properly.

Professional opinions

Nutritionists say that the phrase “healthy eating” hides ordinary foods, such as cereals, vegetables and fruits, and dietary meat.

People believe that healthy food should contain a minimum level of fat, but this is not true, the human body cannot function without vegetable and animal fats.

They are necessary for the active work of the brain, improving the condition of the whole organism as a whole, etc.

Important! Trans fats are banned. A large number of them are found in fast food, confectionery.

Healthy foods can contain high calorie content, but in the mind of a person it is a rigidly established rule that in order to lose weight, you need to eat low-calorie foods. The benefits of foods with a minimum calorie content will be the same minimal.

Nutrition should be balanced and include both healthy foods and a minimum amount of harmful ones, this will ensure balance and allow you not to break down, over time, harmful foods will disappear from the diet.

Useful video

Watch a video about the most useful foods:

Main conclusions

The feeling of fullness is affected by lifestyle and nutrition. The more healthy foods we eat, the healthier we feel. The main component of the diet is cereals, vegetables and fruits, protein sources: meat, fish and legumes. You should not completely abandon fast food and try to completely exclude it from the diet, but you need to make it useful. For example, do not go to a burger place for a portion of quick pleasure, but buy the necessary ingredients, replace a sweet bun with grain bread, take gourmet meat, add vegetables, homemade sauce and make a really healthy burger and enjoy it. Or periodically allow yourself such weaknesses and not try to fully control your diet. Maintain balance and proportion in everything.

"Our food doesn't get sick!" - we are sure and do not divide food into healthy and unhealthy, good and bad. But still there are cases when food can really be harmful. The therapist spoke about such cases in the issue of the column #Therapist on duty.

Today we will talk about whether it is necessary to divide food into harmful and useful. In what cases is it justified and when not, when is it worth limiting any products, and when not.

I propose to think about what kind of food we usually call harmful. I will share some classification, which does not pretend to be complete and exhaustive, if you have ideas on how to supplement it, which I may not have taken into account, then be sure to write in the comments.

1. Junk food is spoiled food that smells bad, the consistency of food, smell and color has changed. This is the only type of food that is truly harmful. Do not eat such food, feel free to throw it away if you have reasonable doubts about its quality. I know this is a big problem for some people. For example, my grandmother, who survived the famine in the Great Patriotic War, was very sensitive to food, and if the cottage cheese turned a little sour, she tried to process it and eat it. And you know, in the years of famine, this is quite a working strategy. But when you have enough money to buy fresh food, then it is better to get rid of spoiled food.

2. The second type of unhealthy foods are foods that are forbidden to you for medical reasons. For example, as a result of diagnosing a certain disease, the doctor prescribed treatment and a diet for you. And this is not an easy situation. Because the experience of our Center and our clients shows how destructive diets can be, no matter for what reason you follow it. What to do? First, assess the situation, for how long you are assigned a diet. For a certain, relatively short period of time or for life. If you were prescribed a diet for exacerbation of gastritis, then this is a relatively short time period. In such acute conditions, a person is motivated enough to follow the recommendations in order to stop unpleasant symptoms, such as pain. If it’s still difficult to follow the recommendations, then it’s worth reminding yourself, like a mantra, that this is a temporary solution, soon I will be able to eat normally again.

Usually problems begin when a person begins to recover and no longer experiences sharp pains, he is already tired of the diet, and this greatly reduces his emotional stability. Then I suggest carefully introducing foods that are not included in the diet. I recommend starting a food diary and tracking how your body reacts to one candy or one apricot. This is not an easy and painstaking job, which also pays off with chronic dietary recommendations. When you have a food allergy, for example, it is very difficult, you deny yourself a variety of food sensations, if you are allergic to some common food group, for example, cereals, it is difficult for you to find food in public places. In this situation, keeping a food diary will also help, tracking the portion size of a diet-forbidden product that you can eat without harm to health.

Another option I can suggest for people who don't have much experience with dietary restrictions is intuitive eating. And we have already talked about an Israeli study many times in our issues, the results of which demonstrate that different people have different increases in blood sugar from the same products. And what does it give us? This makes it possible to intuitively choose products, for example, for diabetes, while simultaneously monitoring sugar levels, and create your own personalized menu for any bodily disease. Because usually medical recommendations regarding the diet are very global, it is forbidden to eat almost everything. And you you need to find the key to your unique body. If you are faced with such a task, then a program will soon begin in our Center - accompanied by two certified specialists, you will be able to gain specific skills on how to organize your optimal diet. I also recommend choosing a doctor who relies on evidence-based medicine, then you are more likely to avoid useless dietary prescriptions. For example, most pediatricians in our country prescribe a hypoallergenic diet for a nursing mother, although in the entire progressive world there is no such evidence that a woman should somehow limit herself.

3. The third type of "harmful" products - "harmful" in accordance with any nutrition system. If you exclude meat for ethical reasons - it is your right, follow your wise consciousness. But if you do not eat meat because it poisons the body, then evidence is needed for this. I have no data that for a person with average health indicators there are certain foods that are dangerous to his health. Neither fats, nor proteins, nor carbohydrates, nor sugars, nor salt, none of this is dangerous. On the contrary, humans are omnivores, it is our evolutionary survival strategy that we can eat any food group. We often meet in the media with information about the dangers of certain products. For example, that tomatoes cause cancer. The first thing to do after reading this is a series of deep breaths in and out, and then check the facts. Look at the reliability of the source, pay attention to the wording. If you see the wording that “scientists from the university of so-and-so have found a correlation between the occurrence of cancer and the use of tomatoes,” then look what the word “correlation” means. Roughly speaking, this means that two measurable properties coexist together. Correlation does not mean at all that one variable, for example, the use of tomatoes, causes another - the development of oncology. If you're really excited about this topic of dietary rules, check to see if there's any scientific evidence on the subject: placebo-controlled studies with a large enough sample. If there are no such studies, then most likely you have come across poor-quality material on the topic of health with a scandalous headline.

4. Well, the last group of junk food - from which they recover. And a large number of adherents of dietary thinking will cite themselves as evidence that there is food from which a person gains weight. And I agree with them! A person gains weight from any food, if he does not eat out of physiological hunger. Therefore, when he excludes some group of products, then for the first few times he sees that this gives its results - weight loss, but still it is not proof that, for example, they get better from sweets. There is no food that makes a person gain, there is no food that becomes dangerous for weight gain if you eat it after 12 o'clock or after 18 o'clock. A person gets better only in one case - if he overeats. That is why, as part of the treatment of malnutrition, there is always a stage of structured nutrition, when a person learns to eat all food groups again. As part of intuitive eating, there is a method of legalization. When you have a certain forbidden food that you often overeat uncontrollably, then you choose strictly one of its names, stock up, regularly replenish stocks so that you always have a surplus. And eat when you want this product, stop when you seem to be full. Surprisingly, the craving for this product quickly disappears. Overeating attacks disappear, weight is reduced in the long term.

As you can see, there are no health benefits from food restrictions unless you eat spoiled foods. But there is great harm from food restrictions. When you embark on the path of dietary restrictions to lose weight, improve your health, or live forever, the first thing to remember is that the diet will not live up to these hopes, but you are putting yourself at risk of developing an eating disorder (EDD). All eating disorders start with diet. If you already have some kind of vulnerability, then there is a great risk of developing it into this difficult state. If you limit your child in any type of food, in its quantity, then you also put him at risk of developing an eating disorder and obesity in adulthood. In fact, I understand why this is happening now: a lot of processed food, a lot of fast food and affordable sweets, a lot of conflicting information from parents, from which they are naturally stressed.

We are often approached with the question of how to protect the child from junk food. There is only one answer - to form his nutritional competence. This is the term of the American nutritionist Elin Sutter, author of the book "Child Nutrition from 0 to 5". Nutritional competence is the ability of a child and a person to be flexible in their eating behavior, to choose tasty and healthy food. To do this, it is not necessary to demonize any group of products, for example, store-bought sweets. Even if you objectively cook much tastier, and the child buys Oreo cookies, then you don’t need to lecture him about the dangers of preservatives, firstly, because they are absolutely safe, otherwise they would not be used in mass production, and secondly, you You don't encourage him to learn how to choose the best food for himself.

The child needs to be provided with a variety of food, including sweets and fast food, so that he can choose what he eats and how much. Because nature is such that we cannot and should not watch over our children all the time. They will grow up and find themselves in a world where all people eat hamburgers and chips from time to time, and you will not be able to explain that this is junk food, the child will see that, for example, no one drinks from a puddle, because it is potentially dangerous, but Everyone goes to McDonald's. He won't believe it's junk food. Your task is not to scare the child, but to teach him to rely on the signals of his own body in choosing foods, not to be afraid of foods, and then he will not have any cravings for prohibited foods. I know it's sometimes hard to believe the power of your own eating habits, but no child is systematically eating only chips and cola, except in cases of an avoidant eating disorder.

Let's move on to the questions:

I do not divide food into harmful and healthy, I welcome everything in reasonable quantities. But there are prejudices about compatibility that blow my mind and prevent me from eating intuitively. Here, for example, you can not drink tea or other liquid immediately after eating, supposedly this impairs the digestion of food. Fruit after eating is impossible - they are poorly absorbed. Then, you can’t eat proteins and carbohydrates together, so if I cook meat, then I have a salad for it, and not my favorite mashed potatoes. Or, eat sweets and carbohydrates in the morning to use up energy during the day, and you recommend sweets after lunch and dinner. If you lie down after eating, then only on your left side. Help me figure out if there is truth in these rules, which I picked up on the Internet and just can’t get out of my head.

Sounds like a lot of food rules that you have. And it is really difficult to live with it, you are limited in food compositions, in your choice, you are constantly in anxiety and doubts about whether you are eating right or not. You can think about why this anxiety occurs, what function it performs, what can be done about it. The first thing that comes to mind is meditative practices right before eating. Second, a powerful way to deal with such food rules is through behavioral experimentation. Try to drink tea after meals for a week and see what happens, whether it is dangerous for you or not. For the next week, combine meat with mashed potatoes and see what happens to your body in the same way. Etc. I can say that I drink tea after every meal, eat dessert twice a day, and even after 10 pm, but this will not convince you. The most valuable for you will be your own experience. Try!

Hello. I'm starting to get into intuitive eating and it's helping me a lot. I want to keep doing fitness. Fitness requires the consumption of a certain amount of protein throughout the day so that the indicators do not fall and carbohydrates too. What do you recommend. How to combine fitness and intuitive eating? Thanks for the answer.

I understand that in the fitness world there are very rigid recommendations: eat a certain amount of protein per kg of body weight, do not eat before and after training, or eat only protein, and so on. Here you have the right to choose what is important to you, but, in my opinion, these recommendations have nothing to do with intuitive eating. The body has appetite regulation systems pre-installed by nature, depending on the current loads. If you train intensively, spend a lot of energy, then your appetite increases, and you intuitively choose a sufficient amount of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, and other useful nutrients, provided that you do not have an eating disorder, you do not restrict yourself in nutrition and do not follow any external food rules. In this case, it does not matter what amount of protein in your diet per kg of body weight, but most likely this is the optimal amount.

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